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Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Division I Round-up: Washington State to host Northwestern in NCAA opener

The Washington State University ladies, as an at-large selection, were the lone side from the region to earn a spot in the NCAA Division I tournament unveiled Monday afternoon. They will host Northwestern Saturday at 5:00 pm in Pullman.

Eastern Washington, Montana and regular season conference champion Idaho missed out on earning a spot in the dance in the Big Sky tournament over the weekend as Northern Colorado claimed the league championship.

The Bears, however, feature one of only a handful of area players - other than the Cougars - that will be playing in the tournament with Carolyn Cox (Spokane, WA) on the squad. Other players from the region include Kelcie Hedge (Post Falls, ID) with the University of Washington, Stanford's Averie Collins (Bozeman, MT) and the trio of Jackie Bollinger (Wenatchee, WA), Rachel Estopare (Bend, OR) and Hayley Estopare (Bend, OR) with the University of Arizona.

The lower seeds prevailed on an opening day that saw the weather transition from a progressively heavier rainfall eventually to snowfall of one-inch flakes that significantly impacted the play of the final half of play on the day. Sacramento State used an early goal to take control against Eastern Washington and wrapped up the upset with two goals and an assist from Kayla Collins. Montana used a pair of goals from Ashlee Pedersen (Spokane, WA) to top Weber State in the snow. INWsn REPORT [+]

Both winners, however, came up short in the semifinals the following day. A goal and two assists from Rebecca Lancia led Northern Colorado in the first contest while Idaho used goals from three different players to build a three-goal lead, holding on to advance to the final despite a late charge from the Grizzlies. INWsn REPORT [+]

The championship came down to penalties for the fourth time in five years. The host Vandals took the initial lead, but the Bears answered in the second half and the two remained deadlocked through overtime, allowing Northern Colorado to win the title thanks to three saves from Madeline Burdick in the shootout. INWsn REPORT [+]

Washington State 3 :: 1 Washington
Kelcie Hedge (Post Falls, ID) put the host Huskies on the board first, volleying a cross in after just 10 minutes, but Kaitlyn Johnson answered quickly for the Cougars, intercepting a clearance and beating the keeper in the 16th minute. Ten minutes later Johnson combined with Sofia Anker-Kofoed to deliver a through ball to Cara Wegner to put the Cougars in front. Goalkeeper Ella Dederick, who made six saves for the Cougars, snatched a cross in the 82nd minute and delivered a lengthy punt to Kelsee Crenshaw, who beat a defender before scoring from 21 yards to lock up the contest. MORE [+]

Friday, November 6

Oregon 2 :: 1 Oregon State
Trailing since the 29th, Maryn Beutler (Bend, OR) scored from about 15 yards to even the contest in the 82nd minute en route to the victory.

Arizona State 4 :: 1 Arizona
Down four to their rivals, the Wildcats got their lone goal from Hayley Estopare (Bend, OR) in the 59th minute off a corner kick.

Santa Clara 3 :: OT :: 2 Gonzaga
The 15th-ranked Broncos took the initial lead with a goal in the 19th minute, but senior Heather Johnson highlighted her final game with the equalizer in the 39th minute on a ball from Jodi Ulkekul. Karley Baggerly put the Bulldogs in front in the 74th minute, but Santa Clara pulled even in the 82nd. The lady Zags were seconds away from from an upset result when the visitors tallied with five seconds remaining to grab the victory. MORE [+]

Saint Mary's 1 :: 0 Gonzaga
Unlike the women's game the day before that went down to the final seconds, the deciding goal on a corner came from the visitors just 67 seconds into the contest for the Bulldog men. Senior Chris Lowrimore went on to make nine saves in his final game and the Zags forced six from the keeper at the other end. MORE [+]

Julia Moravec (Spokane, WA) tallied a goal and assist in the 2-0 Seattle University win over CSU-Bakersfield in the WAC tournament hosted in Bakersfield, but the Redhawks failed to return to the NCAA tournament when they were upset 2-0 in the conference final by second-seeded Utah Valley, whom they beat 1-0 in the season finale a week before in Seattle. Trailing by three to top-seeded Penn State in the Big Ten Conference tournament opener, Kara Marbury (Spokane, WA) scored the lone goal for Illinois in the 77th minute.